Drawing on multiple studies demonstrating that it is possible to retrieve DNA from both human and animal remains in Pompeii, they managed to extract genetic information from some of those plaster casts containing highly fragmented skeletal remains,

DNA analysis of victims in Pompeii who died in Mount Vesuvius' eruption reveals some unusual relations between the people who died together.

In mere minutes, the giant cloud of ash and gases killed an estimated 2,000 people, many of whom were unearthed more than a thousand years later. Their decomposed bodies were preserved by the ash, and archaeologists were able to reconstruct their forms using plaster casts of the cavities they left behind. More than 100 casts have been made to date.